Jim’s Dock – Wakefield, Rhode Island

Wow, is this place super difficult to find. It’s easy to find the sign, but once you start trying to find the restaurant, not so easy. There are buildings and tons of cars parked right on top of them so you can’t see an entrance. I finally made my way around to the back, where the lovely seating area is located on the dock. It really is pretty, lots of flowers, friendly service. I ordered take out, but it’s clearly designed for sitting with waitress service, no take out window. The lobster roll is really a standout. First, it is rather large, weighing in at 8.6 oz. At first glance, it looks like it might be too chopped, but it’s really not. It has very fresh tasting, tail and claw, bite size chunks mixed with some smaller chunks, which in this case is a great combo for flavor. The mayo is a perfect amount, not too overwhelming. The bread is really what I think puts this lobster roll over the top. It is a split top bun, but clearly not a bagged grocery store roll. This seems very bakery/artisan. But, the lobster roll has enough meat and the bread isn’t too large, so they manage to pull off the elusive perfect meat:bread ratio with a fresh bread roll. Well done. The roll is also very buttery grilled, it has the ideal crisp so that it doesn’t scratch up the roof of your mouth, but the crispy buttery flavor is a great complement to the cold meat. However, there are few decent down sides to this spot. The parking is horrible. It’s on a little tiny road at the end of the peninsula. It’s wildly crowded, no place to turn around and people double park, not optionally. Apparently, you’re supposed to leave your keys in your car when you go in. I saw a few incidents with people not being able to get their cars out and needing to go get waitresses to ask around just in the 15 minutes on a Sunday afternoon around 3pm when I was there. The price is also worth mentioning. As I’ve said, I don’t usually mention price because it fluctuates and is usually around the same range. This one is a little higher, $22 on the day I went. I think it was very worth it, but not everyone thinks a lobster roll is work over $20. I don’t really get this reasoning since no one blinks at paying $25-30 for a 1 1/4 lb lobster and you only get about 3-4 oz. of meat out of those, but I’ll leave that decision up to you. I’ll definitely be back for this lobster roll and next time will bring a bottle of wine and sit on the deck…and try to get someone to drop me off so I don’t have to park.